Why We Need Women in Comedy More Than Ever
Unfiltered and Unstoppable: Women in Comedy Unapologetically Own Their Stories
As a kid, humor was a doorway into worlds I didn’t yet know—and a way of making sense of the one I was already living in.
I remember staying up late to watch Saturday Night Live and counting the women cast members on my fingers. Maya Rudolph. Rachel Dratch. Tina Fey. Amy Poehler. Ana Gasteyer. Cheri Oteri.
At the time, I didn’t realize I was witnessing something special. It simply felt normal that women could be hilarious.
Only later did I realize I had come of age during something of a renaissance for women in comedy.
Comedy Offers Variety in Every Sense of the Word
Those women stood on the shoulders of pioneers like Gilda Radner and generations before her, icons like Lucille Ball. I spent countless afternoons watching TV Land reruns of I Love Lucy, The Golden Girls, and Designing Women. Looking back, I realize comedy was one of the first places I saw women unapologetically owning their stories.
Comedy offered variety in every sense of the word.
Not just variety shows—though I loved those too—but variety of experience. It was one of the few places where I regularly encountered people from different races, religions, body types, generations, class backgrounds, and identities. They were united by their ability to captivate a room with wit, perspective, and courage. Sometimes the joke landed. Sometimes it didn’t. But they kept going anyway.
There’s something powerful about that.
Women in Comedy Remind Us Our Humanity Is Shared
Comedy was where I witnessed women express difficult truths. Through humor, they could talk about pain without being defined by it. They could explore family, identity, heartbreak, discrimination, ambition, and joy—all while making us laugh.
They were storytellers.
They were narrators of their own lives.
And perhaps most importantly, they were connectors.
A great comedian can walk onto a stage in front of hundreds—or thousands—of strangers and somehow convince us that we’re all in on the same joke. They remind us that our differences are real, but our humanity is shared.
Like many industries, comedy has historically been dominated by men. While there are countless brilliant women working in comedy today, opportunities, visibility, and investment have never been distributed equally. Men still dominate comedy tours, late-night hosting, stand-up specials, and executive creative roles. For women of color, LGBTQ+ women and gender-expansive individuals, immigrant women, and others whose stories have been pushed to the margins, those barriers can be even steeper.
I can count on one hand women comedians of color who have been given the opportunity to create and star in their own network television series.
Two of them will be joining us this September at The Women’s Foundation of Colorado’s Annual Luncheon.
Cristela Alonzo, Margaret Cho Redefined Who Gets to be the Main Character
Long before conversations about representation became commonplace, Margaret Cho was breaking barriers.
In 1994, she became the first Asian American woman to star in a primetime network television sitcom, All-American Girl. The show centered on a Korean American family at a time when Asian American stories were almost absent from television. While the series lasted only one season, its cultural significance cannot be overstated. Cho has spoken candidly about the impossible expectations placed on her by network executives and an industry that wasn’t prepared to embrace stories outside the mainstream.
Instead of shrinking, she got louder.
Over the next three decades, Cho built a career as a comedian, actor, author, advocate, and cultural critic. She has fearlessly explored topics ranging from race and gender to sexuality and body image, creating space for conversations many people had never heard reflected on stage before.
Cristela Alonzo’s journey is equally groundbreaking.
Raised in a working-class Mexican American family in Texas, Alonzo became the first Latina woman to create, write, produce, and star in her own network sitcom, Cristela. The series offered something television audiences rarely saw: a funny, nuanced portrayal of a multigenerational Latino family navigating work, culture, belonging, and the pursuit of opportunity.
As a Mexican American woman, I know how meaningful visibility can be.
Growing up, I didn’t see women who looked like me leading their own stories—especially in comedy. Cristela wasn’t just making audiences laugh; she was expanding our collective understanding of who gets to be the main character.
Since then, Alonzo has continued to break barriers, becoming the first Latina to voice a lead character in a Pixar film as Cruz Ramirez in Cars 3 and building a celebrated career in stand-up comedy, television, and film.
Telling the Truth – Sometimes Uncomfortable Truths – Define Their Storytelling
What connects Margaret and Cristela is bigger than comedy.
It’s storytelling.
Both women have built careers by telling the truth—sometimes uncomfortable truths, sometimes joyful truths, often both at once. They remind us that our experiences are worthy of being seen and heard, even when they don’t fit neatly into someone else’s expectations.
That feels especially important right now.
As we planned this year’s luncheon, our theme, Unfiltered and Unstoppable, kept bringing us back to the same question: What do we need from one another in moments that feel heavy?
The world offers no shortage of reasons to feel overwhelmed. We carry uncertainty, division, and challenges that can often feel larger than ourselves.
But we also carry joy, resilience, and stories.
Laughter Doesn’t Erase Hardship, It Helps Us Imagine What’s Possible
Laughter doesn’t erase hardship. It doesn’t pretend challenges don’t exist. Instead, it helps us transform them. It allows us to take the difficult, messy, complicated parts of being human and turn them into something bigger, braver, sillier, and somehow more honest.
None of us are one-note people.
We contain multitudes. We hold grief and hope. Frustration and possibility. Fear and determination.
Comedy makes room for all of it.
Laughter is a release. An energizer. A connector. It is contagious. It transcends language, culture, and background. It reminds us that joy is not the opposite of struggle—it is often what helps us move through it.
This September, we’re honored to welcome two extraordinary women whose careers embody what it means to be unfiltered and unstoppable.
Join Us on Thursday, Sept. 10, for An Afternoon of Laughter, Inspiration, and Community
We hope you’ll join us on Thursday, September 10, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Colorado Convention Center for an afternoon of laughter, inspiration, and community.
Whether you choose to sponsor the event, purchase a table, or join us as an individual attendee, your participation helps support The Women’s Foundation of Colorado’s work to create a future where every woman and girl can thrive.
For an even more memorable experience, premier tickets include an exclusive morning meet-and-greet reception with Margaret Cho and Cristela Alonzo.
Come ready to laugh and connect. Come ready to celebrate the power of women telling their own stories.
Because when women are given the microphone, they don’t just entertain us.
They help us imagine what is possible.
And that is truly unstoppable.
Get Your Annual Luncheon Tickets & Tables Now
